"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

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Friday, 21 May 2010

Copenhagen Marathon Preview

It has been a beautiful week to discover Denmark by bike. (these pictures probably mean very little to my readers, but I see these places over and over and this week they are absolutely gorgeous).

Between Ronnebæk and NæstelsøThis is a field of raps, which is grown to make cooking oil.

Between Mogenstrup and Lov

This was the second real taper of my life (the first was before the 50 miler in 2008). Mostly because of my Tri club, it wasn't that bad. And I just kept telling myself to pretend I was injured. Okay, that wasn't that easy.

But now I am more than ready to run. I went a little 1 mile sprint today and my legs felt like butter.

Yes, it's the Copenhagen Marathon on Sunday. 12,311 registered runners as of right now. I've never run a big city marathon. I am a countryside runner at heart. The one "city" marathon I've run was the Lakefront Marathon in Milwaukee in 2005. I told absolutely no one (besides very essential people) I was running it, didn't taper at all, and didn't specifically train for it. My plan was to run it in 4:20, since I tended to run a 10 minute per mile pace, but had only ever run 20 miles once and that was the max. I am not sure what happened that day, but I ran it in 3:43 and had so much extra energy at the end that I was angry with myself for not pushing harder. I just hope I get that same sort of unexpected energy again on Sunday.

So it's 5 years and a heck of a lot of training later. I could say that all I want from this race is to have fun, which is true, but to me having fun is fighting, with myself and the other ladies (and men) out there. And hoping they are jealous by how fast I run and how good I look in my shorts. Yes, it's all part of the fun :). And I can't wait to run a race with so many people I know. What joy to see them all at the finish line.

Timing

How fast am I going to run it? Well, I am going to go out with the 3:15 (total time) pacers (that is just under 7:30 min/mile, 4:37 min/km). It's faster than I think I can run it. But, I don't want to think afterwards "Oooh, if only I had tried to run a little faster". But anything under my previous PR of 3:27 will make me happy.

Food/drink

Well, I considered wearing a water belt, but it just seems too bulky. And I decided not to do this because of Piccola Pinecone's luck with short walking breaks. So I am praying they have sports drink and not just water. I am going to carry 1 gel. I wish I could carry more, but they are Maxim's and have a cap that makes them big, so only one will fit in my shorts pocket.

Attire

I wanted to wear a Herlufsholm (my track club) jersey, but I haven't bought one yet and I honestly can't figure out how to. So I am going to wear a white and gray Montrail sleeveless jersey, provided by Olga. I have been growing out my armpit hair for weeks now so I can wear a sleeveless shirt to the marathon and not have chafing.

Music

Need to work on my list. Suggestions are ALWAYS welcomed.

SR

What an exciting race for him. He is of course going for a PR, too. Perhaps as low as 2:40. He is very light and fast now, so who knows what kind of pace he'll have. And he has no pacers to follow. He has talked all week about how nervous he is about not getting out to the front of the pack. There is no elite group at Copenhagen Marathon, otherwise I imagine he could qualify.

Misc.

And speaking of people who could qualify as elite, our friend Justin is vising us from the US and he has run a marathon in 2:26 and was in the elite group at Boston last year, so he is certainly going for a top 5. We are having dinner with him, his wife and son at Pasta Basta tomorrow night. It will be good to spend time with someone who is perhaps more nervous than me. I also want to wish Henriette, Mette, Helle and Tina a great race and I will look for you all after the race.

Fun Fact

In the 1981 Copenhagen Marathon, the first place female was from the USA and won with a time of 3:16:26. So does that mean I've got a shot? :)

You're closer to the 3:20 than you think. Definately start out on the 3:15 pace band. Just saw SR's blog and suprised he doesn't think you will crack 3:20. I totally disagree. I have followed your blog for quite a while and I think your training is faster than mine. I thought 3:20 was a long shot and finished in 3:20:30. Good luck and I look forward to seeing the results. Run smart!

Im definately not as speedy as you in the shorter distances_ I dont put in the work unfortunately that you do with the mile intervals. Maybe after pregnancy! Best of luck in the target 26.2. Id echo others that going with one gel could be dangerous especially if youre pushing hard for 3+ hours. Also for what its worth I had a previous PR of 3:28 before this last fall's marathon and had felt great and strong with training so started out with the goal to stay ahead of the 3:30 pacer as I have the problem of starting to fast and dying in the last 10K. In the fall, I stayed around 3:25 pace and really did have energy left in the last 1/2 and for the first time negatively split the race and came in 3:19- a nine minute PR and what I thought was way out of my league. So I caution against starting out too strong and trying to hang on in a distance such as the marathon. Just my thoughts, you are obviously a speed machine and may be able to do so but after 15+ marathons Ive found that the price is high if I follow that tactic.

Good luck to you and cant wait to see the report of you kicking more butt out there!!!

it's Christmas Eve. tomorrow you get your present! I am so excited for you! Enjoy this evening, anticipating the PB is half the fun.Run intelligently!Run fast!Sending you lactic acid free vibes from Northern Italy.

Good luck on the race! Looking forward to your post-race post. I'm training for my first half marathon, June 26. Thinking on surprising my sister and doing the full marathon with her Sept. 4. I have no speed as I just started running last Nov. You are an inspiration. Keep up the blogging!

Hello from Rude Skov

Photo by Stine Sophie Winckel

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My name is Tracy. I am a physician scientist from the USA, living with my husband and two young boys in Denmark. I work as a post-doc fellow at Næstved Hospital. I have a scientific interest in vision loss, vision loss during exercise, exercise, running during pregnancy, MAF training as well as nutrition and health for athletes. I also have a love for music, physics, statistics, cycling, yoga, cross-country skiing, bla bla bal.

I was a member of Team USA at the IAU World Championships in Ultra Trail Running in 2013 in Wales. I am now training to run with Team Denmark at the IAU World Championships in Annency, France in May 2015.